| Proto-Nuristani | |
|---|---|
| PNur | |
| Reconstruction of | Nuristani languages |
| Region | Fergana Region, modern-dayUzbekistan[1] |
| Era | around 8th century BCE |
Reconstructed ancestors | |
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Proto-Nuristani is thereconstructedproto-language of theNuristani languages. Proto-Nuristani is descended fromProto-Indo-Iranian, which in turn is descended fromProto-Indo-European.
Proto-Nuristani is the latest common form of all modern-dayNuristani languages. Since diverging from the otherIndo-Iranian languages, the Nuristani-speaking peoples have maintained social interactions with otherIndo-Iranian peoples, influencing each other's linguistic and cultural landscapes. There have been some phonological developments that were shared withIndo-Aryan andIranian languages at different stages of development, as well as sound changes specific to the Nuristani languages.
Due to the lack of direct attestation of Nuristani languages until the 19th century, it is difficult to deduce much detail about Proto-Nuristani, without resorting to extensive internal comparisons between the modern-dayNuristani languages, and external comparisons with earlier forms of attestedIndo-Iranian languages.
The earliest divergence of Proto-Nuristani from the other Indo-Iranian languages may be indicated by the fact that theRuki sound law does not apply after *u: e.g.Southeastern Katëmusë/muˈsɘ/ "mouse" <*mūs-a-ka-.[2]
Proto-Nuristani shares withIranian languages the merger of thetenuis andbreathy-voiced consonants, the preservation of the distinction between the two sets ofIndo-Iranian voiced palatals (which merged inIndo-Aryan), and the fronting of theProto-Indo-Iranian primary palatal consonants. The latter were retained as dental affricates in Proto-Nuristani, in contrast to simplification to sibilants in most Iranian languages.
Proto-Nuristani is distinguished by the lack of debuccalizing/s/ to/h/ as inIndo-Aryan. Later on Proto-Nuristani/*d͡z/ shifted to/z/ in all Nuristani varieties other thanSoutheastern Katë andTregami, while Proto-Nuristani/*t͡s/ shifted to/s/ only inAshkun (though in some instances it is retained as/t͡s/).
Proto-Nuristani started to break off into distinct languages from around 8th century BCE. From this point, the influences from surroundingIndo-Aryan andIranian languages onto early Nuristani languages have been highly complex, due to different patterns of migration and settlement by various Nuristani-speaking tribes.[3] This is demonstrated by the existence of disparate sound changes in individual Nuristani languages that make it difficult to neatly classify them into groups that share a common sound change on the same timeline.
*ačāni "eyes" (Halfmann 2023)
*āp-pešáni "water mill" (Halfmann 2023)
*dáca "ten" (Kreidl 2021)
*dúǰitā "daughter" (Kreidl 2021)
*dū́ "two" (Kreidl 2021)
*dvára- "door" (Halfmann 2023)
*dvāráka- "doorjambs" (Halfmann 2023)
*Kānta-ka- "Katë" (Halfmann 2024)
*páda- "footprint" (Kreidl 2021)
*pra-dā- "to give" (Kreidl 2021)